30 Aug 2016

Francistown principal elections officer, Mr Nyanga Nyanga has raised concern about the low turnout of the Party Liaison Committee (PLC) members to meetings.

Speaking during the review of a report of polling stations in the Francistown constituencies on Monday, Mr Nyanga said failure to attend PLC meetings by members was a drawback because only the minority took decisions on behalf of  the majority not in attendance.

He however, said since records indicated that political parties appointed their representatives to the committee he would follow up the matter.

Mr Nyanga’s sentiments followed a Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) representative, Mr Golwelang Mogomela’s suggestion that for continuity purposes political parties should appoint their PLC representatives.

Regarding the review of polling stations, Mr Nyanga said the three constituencies in Francistown had a total of 99 polling stations, out of which 30 had been using tents and after the review the polling stations were likely to be reduced to 63.

He explained that the reduction was a result of some especially in open spaces being phased out and others streamlined.

Mr Nyanga said the polling stations were reviewed due to a concern regarding huge number of tents as polling stations even in areas with proper built up structures, the associated security risks posed by tented polling stations and insufficient lighting in tents that compromised the integrity of the polling stations.

He further said the general observation regarding polling stations especially those in open areas was that they attracted large numbers of voters which aroused suspicion that they could result in voter trafficking.

He also told the meeting that an electronic voting machine will be used during the 2019 general elections.

During comments and questions, Tatitown deputy court president, Kgosi Edward Showa raised  concern that the use of the machine might be a challenge at the rural areas where most of the residents were illiterate.

However, the assistant director of Civil and National Registration, Ms Ofentse Gojamang said she was hopeful that with proper education voters would be able to use the machine.

She said  since illiteratepeople  could operate cell phones and with proper education they would be able to use the machine, she noted that the use of the machine would speed up the voting process which had been tedious as there was need to verify used ballot papers against the ballot books. ENDS